


The Heart of the Scorpion King

by abbitha_christie011



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Albus is a thirsty mess, Eventual Romance, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Spoilers, I'm so sorry, M/M, Mild Language, No Sex, Romance, Rose is a pansexual icon, Slow Burn, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, snape is a sassy photograph, the slowest of burns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2019-05-27 21:40:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15033875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbitha_christie011/pseuds/abbitha_christie011
Summary: Scorpius and Albus return for their sixth year at Hogwarts to traverse the minefield of emotions, relationships, anxiety, magic, and the growing realization that they should have been together all along.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi fellow potter-heads! Please bear with me, I don't write much, so this chocolate-and-fandom fueled story might get pretty weird and rambly at times. I'll post new chapters as soon as I get the chance to write them (I promise)! So anyway, I hope you enjoy! Please tell me what you think!  
> Happy Reading!

_A loud bang woke Scorpius from a light sleep and he looked up, startled, looking for the source of the disruptance. His gaze fell on the short, brown haired boy standing in the entrance to his compartment, looking annoyedly at a girl talking quite loudly at him. “Okay! Okay! I get it! Gotta make friends! Calm down, Rose!’ The boy finally looked around, noticing Scorpius staring at him and accidentally meeting his eyes. His face flushed and he averted his gaze. “Uhh, is this compartment free?” “Ah! Yes! It’s just me in here. Juuuuust me.” The girl called Rose shot him a look, and he swallowed nervously. “Could I interest you in a fizzing whizbee? Or a cauldron cake? Or a chocolate frog? My mum packed me a bag of sweets, because ‘“sweets are the best way to make friends!’” Scorpius froze, realising that he just sang those last words. Thankfully, the boy laughed, probably out of pity. Still, the sound gave Scorpius a curious tingle deep in his stomach. “Come on Albus! We shouldn’t sit with him! He’s Draco Malfoy’s son! You know, the one rumoured to actually be VOLDEMORT’S SON?” The last words, none-too-tactfully whisper-shouted by Rose stung Scorpius, and he turned away, a light blush spreading over his pale face. Rose tugged on Albuses’ sleeve, but the boy looked hesitant to leave. “So? He’s not his father! I’m not my father! It’s not like we’re going to be best friends anyway!” Scorpius shrunk back a little. “This is the only free compartment anyway, and he has sweets! You know mum never lets candy into the house.” Rose huffed under her breath and left, mumbling something about ‘filthy Slytherins.’ Albus, contented, sat down on the bench across from Scorpius. “Sorry about her, she can be a pain. My name’s Albus, what’s yours?” The shorter boy’s sudden change in attitude confused Scorpius, but he decided to be friendly anyway. “Scorpius! Scorpius Malfoy. I’m assuming you want a sweet?” “Absolutely! You’re the expert here Scorpius, which would you suggest?” “Personally, I’m partial to the Pepper Imps. They are brilliantly minty, and they make you steam from the ears!” “That’s brilliant! I’ll start with one of those. Thanks Scorpius.” The boys smiled at each other and popped the green-and-white striped candies into their mouths. “WOOOOO!” yelled Scorpius over the shrill gust of steam, doing a teakettle impression. “THANK YOU FOR STAYING FOR MY SWEETS, ALBUS!”_

The low whistle of the Hogwarts Express slipped through his consciousness, forming an unpleasant harmony with the memory of the pepper imps. His lips curved in a smile, feeling nostalgic for his first year at Hogwarts. _So much has happened since then,_ He thought, shaking his head. One year had gone past since he and Albus had helped defeat Voldemort after accidentally bringing him back. Their fifth year had been fairly uneventful, and the Hogwarts express was about to whisk them away to their sixth. However, Albus was late. _For the love of Dumbledore, he better not have ditched the train again._ Shaking off the remains of the daydream, Scorpius sat up and looked at his watch for the eighty-ninth time. The train began to pick up speed, and three minutes later Albus came crashing into his compartment, breathing heavy. “*huff*...Scorpius…..*huff huff*…….Sorry, Uncle Ron tried to *huff* parallel park. We got here *huff* three hours ago.” Albus let out an out-of-breath chuckle and plopped down onto the seat across from the taller boy. The bench issued an angry yowl and Albus jumped up, yowling just as loudly. “BLOODY HELL!” Albus's resulting stream of cursing and whacking the bench with his suitcase was cut short by Scorpius doubled over, laughing so hard it looked like someone has hit him with rictusempra. Albus froze, a confused grin spreading over his features. Scorpius regained his breath and met his eyes for a millisecond, only to dart them back over towards the seat next to him, where a nearly invisible lynx-looking-thing was sitting. Upon closer examination, Albus realised that the animal was not invisible, its slightly-shimmery coat mimicked the patterns of light on its surroundings, rendering it nearly unnoticeable. He looked at the cat, breathing heavily from the shock. “Right, I meant to tell you but then you came running in here like an oaf.” Scorpius looked at Albus, laughter still in his eyes, smile askew on his face. “That’s Telma, she was my mother’s.” He paused, his eyes clouding over. “She’s usually only the normal cat level of passive aggressive, unless of course you sit on her.” Albus turned scarlet. “Oops. Sorry Telma.” Telma stared at him with piercing violet eyes and resumed grooming her paw, oozing disdain. Albus patted down the bench behind him and, satisfied that there were no other hidden occupants, plopped down contentedly. Scorpius chuckled, and scratched between the cat’s ears. “She loathes my dad, so he asked if I could take her with me to Hogwarts this year to alleviate him from some scratches. I figured I would, he’s having a hard enough time as it is without a cat going mental on him every time he takes a nap.” Albus smiled, only to whip his head around at the sound of the snack trolley. “The Trolley Witch! We should probably hide. I don’t think she’s forgotten two years ago” He shuddered, remembering the grotesque way she could grow her fingers. He gave a crooked smile and locked eyes with Scorpius, piercing green meeting smoky grey. Scorpius stared back for as long as he could stand, the tingly knot in the pit of his stomach twisting in on itself. “To the lavs, then?” he said, dropping his gaze. “Good ol’ feet-up-on-the-toilet, hide-from-angry-she-demon type thing?” Albus heaved open the heavy compartment door. “Works for me.” He guestered through the opening with an exaggerated wave of his hand. “Brains before beauty.” Scorpius laughed and ran out the door, weaving his way through mingling students to the bathrooms.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys finally arrive at Hogwarts. Scorpius actually gets some food (huzzah), and a few new additions to the Hogwarts staff are introduced.

The carriages pulled up to Hogwarts after what felt like eternity to Scorpius, who was too busy avoiding the trolley witch to eat anything, and he thought of the house tables creaking under their delicious burdens longingly. He had found hanging out in a bathroom stall with Albus surprisingly enjoyable; not that he didn’t like being with Albus, more the fact that he found himself lacking personal space in a dirty train bathroom and wasn’t aching to get out. Instead, the contact with Albus was nice, both comforting and setting him increasingly more on edge, until it felt like his stomach was home to a barrage of over-caffeinated bees. This continued throughout the carriage ride, especially when Albus grabbed his hand to make sure they were seated together, or whenever a bump in the road jostled the carriage so they collided like asteroids. _I must just be hungry,_ thought Scorpius as the aromas coming from the great hall nearly made him feel faint.  
“Are you alright? You look pale.” Albus looked at him appraisingly, a small smile softening his features. “Well, paler than usual. Anything I can do?”  
Scorpius pulled himself out of his thoughts. “Just starving. I left my bag of sweets in the compartment, we should’ve grabbed it before we left.”  
Albus checked around his shoulder and pulled a cauldron cake out of his robes “Here, eat this.” He pushed the cake into Scorpius’s hand before he could protest. Scorpius looked over at Albus, about to question how he procured the cake, but Albus shook his head. “I nicked it off Rose. Now eat, I won’t have you fainting on me and scaring all the first years.” Scorpius laughed, and Albus grabbed his hand again to lead him through the crowd to an empty spot on the bench at the table on the far left. Tingles shot up Scorpius’ arm as he wobbily followed after Albus. They took their seats among the other slytherins, and joined them in watching the wide-eyed pack of first years as they walked between two tables to the front of the great hall. “They look like a herd of frightened gazelles,” whispered Scorpius. “Are humans just evolving to be shorter or were we actually that small as first years?” Albus laughed quietly. “Hate to break it to you, Scorpion King, but--” An angry shush from a nearby redhead cut him off mid quip and the boys looked up, realizing the first year gazelles had finally finished processing up the aisle. They stood, a shivering, huddled mass in the corner, looking in awe at the hovering candles and ever-shifting constellations twinkling in the ceiling. After what felt like thirty billion years (with Scorpius’ growling stomach acting as the clock) and several new additions to the Slytherin table, Headmistress McGonnagall stood in front of the podium and cleared her throat. “A quick word before we tuck in,” she declared, looking straight at Scorpius. He felt himself turn a brilliant shade of vermilion as his stomach twisted in on itself. “I’d like to introduce the new additions to the highly venerated Hogwarts faculty. Stand as I announce you.” McGonnagall gestured towards a tall, muscular man with long dreadlocks and chiseled features sitting on the far left of the staff table. The man stood and gazed piercingly out at the students. “Professor James Finch, your new Potions Master.” Professor Finch nodded at the amassed students and resumed his seat, still staring intensely. Scorpius stared back, sure he’s seen this man somewhere before. She waved hand again, this time at a woman with wispy blond hair and peculiar clothing, who was sitting in a very strange bendy way. “Professor Luna Lovegood, who will be taking over Care of Magical Creatures for Hagrid.” Professor Lovegood gave a small smile and folded herself back up in her chair. “And as a special treat for this term, we have Minister of Magic Hermione Granger here to take over Transfiguration class for the sixth and seventh years.” Scorpius almost gasped out loud. He hadn’t even bother to look around earlier because he was too preoccupied with his hunger and, well, other things. _Why is Hermione taking time off from the Ministry? Does Rose even know?_   Scorpius looked over at the Gryffindor table to see Rose’s expression alternating between confusion and fury. _Oof. Looks like there’s going to be quite the exchange between the Grangers later._ Scorpius nudged Albus and nodded in Rose’s direction. “Bloody hell, Rose is going to love this” Albus bugged out his eyes. Scorpius puffed out his cheeks. The redhead’s expression turned murderous. After minutes of these small exchanges, Headmistress Mcgonnagall snapped her fingers and a massive feast appeared atop the four long mahogany tables. And Scorpius, finally sated, ate.  
\-------------  
Several hours (and belt holes) later, Scorpius was crashed on a cushy chair in the Slytherin common room, stuffed to the brim and looking dazedly at a depressed looking squid. The depressed squid looked dazedly back. _Can squids even get depressed? What on earth would a squid have to be depressed about? I wonder if his child got……..squidnapped._ Scorpius snorted loudly at this, causing Telma (who was curled up on his belly,) to mewl angrily and nip at his hand. He pulled it away and looked at her, annoyed. The cat simply went back to sleep, blending in with the lake behind her. Scorpius rolled his eyes and went back to daydreaming, until he was rudely awakened by the all-too-familiar voice of Polly Chapman of all people. “Oi! Ten o’clock! Get to your dorm!” Scorpius bugged his eyes and screwed up his nose and mouth, hoping his face would convey what he was too tired to say; _bugger off already._ Unfortunately, Polly did not just bugger off. “Malfoy!” Scorpius flinched. “Don’t make faces at your Prefect and GET TO YOUR DORM! NOW! And don’t make me say it again!” Polly turned on her heel and strode off to the girls dorms, her cloud of disdain following her. _J_ _ust my bloody luck, they went and made Polly our prefect. Just brilliant._ Scorpius hadn’t noticed the time though, so he slung Telma off his belly and dragged himself to his room. He arrived in time to catch Albus changing his shirt. w _hoof_. Scorpius peeled his gaze away (so not to seem creepy), walked over to his trunk and began feverishly rummaging around for his nightclothes. Unfortunately, the hurried tossing of clothes and books into his luggage earlier this morning had not made for the most organized trunk. “Here, let me help you.” Scorpius reeled as Albus, who he didn’t hear approaching, kneeled next to him and aided in his search, still shirtless, much to Scorpius’ combined delight and chagrin. Scorpius couldn’t help put peek over at his slender frame as the two boys looked through the crate for his striped pajamas. After a good five minutes of fruitless search (and several disastrous ‘Accio pj’s!’ attempts,) Scorpius said that he might as well just sleep in his robes. The other two boys who they shared the dorm with had collapsed onto their sleigh beds awhile ago, so Albus walked back over to his own trunk and mouthed good night to Scorpius, who laughed silently and did the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of today I'm at 115 hits! this is amazing! Thanks everyone! Love you all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, which is the re as I rambly build up the plot and the gay tension (lmao what).  
> Also I held out until the second chapter to put in a terrible pun, so I'm sorry/you're welcome.  
> welp if anyone has ideas or anything, please comment, I really don't know where I'm going with this yet hahah soooooooooooo yeah good talk.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius makes a friend, and re-evaluates his relationship with another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd just like to quick shout-out the friendly neighborhood thesaurus, because I can't remember words.   
> Thanks thesaurus.

A day later, Scorpius, Albus, and assorted Slytherin and Gryffindor sixth years were gathered awkwardly in the potions classroom, awaiting a professor who was an ungodly 20 minutes late.

“It’s our first class!” The unfamiliar girl to the left of Scorpius was talking loudly. “What could he possibly be doing now?” Realizing that the girl was, in fact, talking to him, Scorpius shrugged in response. “Maybe Peeves showed up. He made me miss six periods once because he put laxatives in the bread. And I bloody love bread. Waste of a perfectly good loaf too.” Scorpius laughed, and then his eyes widened as he realized he just talked about diarrhea to a relative stranger. _Social fuckin’ skills. Way to go Scorpius, you’re positively brilliant._ The girl’s eyes widened, but luckily, she laughed, and Scorpius uncoiled. “Really gross, mate, but I have to applaud your conversation skills. My name’s Katie, by the way.” Katie stuck out her hand, and he had enough time to shake it and mumble ‘Scorpius’ in reply when Professor Finch burst into the classroom, his cloak damp and his footsteps hurried. “I do apologize for the delay, class, I had to help Professor Flitwick stop a leak in the charms classroom. This rain is utterly torrential.” Scorpius was surprised; Professor Finch’s voice was surprisingly soft and melodic, a great contrast to his rugged appearance. The professor slung his cloak onto a chair and cast _incendio_  on the burner beneath the cauldron stationed at the front. “Today we will be brewing Pepperup Potion, so get out your scales and measure out these ingredients.” The rest of the class crawled by as Scorpius feverishly weighed, chopped, and ground up various reagents from the lengthy list on the board. Katie flew through her potion, and assisted Scorpius as he flailed through his. Albus was having slightly better luck, but he sliced off a good-sized chunk of his finger when trying to get thin slices off his valerian root. “Thank god this is a double potions, you two are a bloody mess!” Katie eyed their smoking cauldrons and (in Albus’s case,) slightly blood stained workstations and grinned at the boys. “You’d still be weighing out lionfish spines if I hadn’t stepped in.” Scorpius groaned. “Yes, and in my potions student of the year award acceptance speech, I’ll be sure to let everyone know that I owe it aaaaaaall to you.” They all cracked up, causing several students to look in their direction. For once, Scorpius couldn’t care less.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

That afternoon, Scorpius was sitting outside greenhouse 5 reading his copy of _Magical Drafts and Potions_ when Albus plummeted down next to him. “Hey Scorpius! How’s the book?” Scorpius grimaced. “Incredibly dull. I honestly do not know _why_ I’m still reading it. It’s a disease. Please help me.” Albus chuckled and leaned closer in order to look at the pages. “Well, I’m gonna……..what’s that phrase? Recognize your adversary?”

“Close. Know your enemy.”

“Eh, not that close.”

“Right,” Scorpius gulped. “You could be closer.”

He heard Albus swallow. “Right. Close is good.”

“.......Yeah.”

He could feel Albus looking at him.

He could hear his own heartbeat.

People on the moon could probably hear his heartbeat, it was so damn loud.

_But really, who needs a circulatory system? I just wish mine would QUIET DOWN!_

Scorpius kept his eyes glued on his book, not daring to meet the other boy’s gaze.

He looked up for a second, only to see Katie walking towards them. Albus looked up as well and straightened (literally) from his hunched position. Katie strolled forward, a sunny smile on her face. “Well if it isn’t my two favorite Slytherins! Are you trying to up your potions game?” She indicated the book. ‘Hah, something like that, but unfortunately, now I have a date with an owl. My mum demands constant correspondence.” Albus got up rather abruptly and ran in the direction of the owlery.

“Wow someone’s tense.” The Gryffindor plopped down next to Scorpius and looked at him apologetically. “Sorry if I…..” She nudged Scorpius “...... _interrupted_ anything.” Scorpius flushed and looked back down in his book at a diagram of someone properly collecting flobberworm mucus. “Well thanks I guess, but you weren’t ‘ _interrupting’_ as you so subtly put it! Nothing going on here!”

“Oh come on Scorpius! You so clearly like him! And I think he likes you too!”

Scorpius peeped over the book, still red with embarrassment. “.......You think?”

“Of course! Just pay attention to how different he acts with you than with other people. And if you’re still worried, just look at that hair! I know I’m being suuuuuper cliche, but no straight guy has hair _that_ good, much to my dismay.” Scorpius laughed and looked up. “Why is my gaydar worse than a straight girl’s? Seriously?! Who decided it would be just a fantastic idea to make me gay _and_ awkward _and_ with terrible gaydar?” Katie let out a snort. “Probably some vindictive little troll with some human limbs on hand, because whoever made this generation kinda fucked us all up.”

“That’s the most accurate thing I’ve heard all day.”

“I know, I’m practically a young attractive Neil DeGrasse Tyson.”

“......Who?”

“Some muggle bloke who talks about the origins of the universe and other boring bullshit.”

“Oh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was short. Was it? It seems like it was shorter, but I guess they're all pretty short. Also that ending. yeesh. Well, you've put up with me for this long, might as well keep on going, right?  
> I'm going to be sans-laptop for a while so I'll try and get out chapter four before I go.............buttt that might not happen. Anyway.  
> If anyone has any ideas or things they want me to add, please comment! I have no idea where to go next! That's probably not a good thing!  
> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Albus gets a letter from a very persistent owl, Scorpius is clumsy, Snape is a bisexual icon and vines are quoted. It's a wild ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So remember when I said I was going to try to get this posted in July? Well, welcome to almost-November, folks. Dear lord. I hope it was worth the wait?

4

   The first Saturday of the school year had finally rolled around, so by the time Albus woke up and rubbed his eyes blearily, it was well past ten. Eyes still cloudy with sleep, he fumbled around his nightstand for his wand, only to find a rather annoyed feathery object in its place. His discovery awarded him with a sharp peck to the hand.

‘ _WHOO’_

“Ah, sorry mate,” Albus croaked. “I’ll take that though.” He clumsily removed the letter from the barn owl’s beak, gave her an apologetic stroke, and then turned his attention to the coffee-stained paper.

_It has come to my attention that you could use some extra_

_help with your potions work, so if it suits you, I have free time_

_at four this afternoon and I would be happy to help you go_

_over some of the techniques we’ve gone over in class. Please_

_send your answer back with Alice here. I await your reply._

_Best,_

_-Professor Finch_

“Lessons on a Saturday. So much for perfecting my Fanged Frisbee technique.”

Alice started nudging his side.

“Right, right, I’m getting there, don’t get your feathers in a bunch.”

The owl cocked her head to the side, looking mildly offended, or, at least, as offended as one can look when said party is a bird.

He removed a scrap of parchment and a quill from the top drawer of the nightstand and quickly scratched out a reply.

_Thank you, I’ll be there at four._

“That’s a bit crap. Better wake the hell up and do some boot-kissing.”

He crossed out his first attempt and turned the parchment over.

_Professor,_

_Thank you for your offer to provide me with_

_out-of-class guidance. I do admit I could use it._

_I shall report to the potions classroom_

_at four on the dot._

_Thank you,_

_-Albus Potter_

“Now that’d make me seem competent.” He scrolled up the parchment with some spare string and turned to Alice, who had dug several gouges into the wooden side table she had landed on while waiting. She looked up at him  innocently.

“Nothing _reparo_ can’t fix. That is, if I can get someone who can actually cast _reparo_ to help me out.” Albus shook his head. _Whatever._ He handed the scroll to Alice and she flew off, leaving him choking on feathers.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Having given up on trying to locate Scorpius during breakfast, Albus was retreating out the back door of the great hall with a croissant when he bumped into Professor Granger.

“Oh, Albus, I do apologize, I seem to have made you drop your croissant! Let me just grab you another-”

“Thank you Herm- er, I mean, Professor Granger, I’ve had quite enough to eat already, thank you though.” The two stood there for a beat, unsure of exactly what to say to one another. “So you’re teaching transfiguration now? What lead you to leave the Ministry?”

Hermione shifted her feet uncomfortably, which was a very un-Hermione like thing to do. “Well, I’m sure Rose told you about me and Ron…….” Rose had not told Albus about Ron and Hermione, they had hardly talked at all this year. But Hermione did not seem in the mood to share, so Albus decided not to press her further. “......Anyway, I decided I should give him some space, and Headmistress McGonagall had been asking me to fill in for a while now, so I decided to take the winter term off this year and come teach.”

Albus nodded in agreement, although he hardly heard half of what she had said.

“Anyway, best be off now, but I’ll see you in classes on Monday, I believe! Give my best to Scorpius!” She walked off rather hurriedly, papers blowing from the pile in her arms and robes a-swirling.

“I should find Rose and ask her about what’s going on with Hermione, she seems to have a couple screws loose,” Albus said, to no one in particular. Goal in mind, he strode back into the hall for answers and another croissant.

\--------------------------------------------------------------

   Having failed to locate Albus during breakfast, Scorpius hurried out the front door of the great hall clutching a few slices of toast. He was going to meet up with Katie and some of her friends at the lake for a marathon gobstones tournament that he was now a good ten minutes late for, so he was barreling around corners, running haphazardly, stopping only to wait for the staircases to move into position. He was racing around a bend near the Charms Classroom when he accidentally ran head-first into Professor Finch.

“.....God…...sorry…….Professor..” Scorpius wheezed, frantically gathering the papers that had blown across the corridor in the commotion. The Potions Master chuckled and knelt to grab a handful of parchment. “No need to worry Mister Malfoy,... Here, I can take those from you.” He reached out his hand to take the haphazard pile of papers from Scorpius, who, still shaken from the collision, pushed them over to his Professor and started looking around wildly for more scattered items. He saw the glimmer of metal peeping out from under a bench and lunged for it. He landed awkwardly on the floor a good three feet from his intended target with a yelp. He crawled over to the bench and snatched up the small shiny thing, which, with closer examination, turned out to be an open pocket watch.

“Pro.. Professor Finch!” Scorpius jogged towards the departing teacher, turning the pocket watch over as he did so. The inside of the lid contained a picture of a tall, greasy-haired man who scowled at him and began brushing the dust off of his cloak.

“Professor! _*huff*_ You dropped..” Scorpius struggled to catch his breath “...your pocket watch!”

The Potions Master stopped and turned on his heel. “Ah, thank you Mr. Malfoy, I’m sure Severus would’ve been quite irritated if I left him in the corridor all night.”

Scorpius stood in shock, mouth agape. “Severus…. As in Severus Snape? The man who sacrificed himself for Harry Potter?!”

“Yes, the very same, but before all of that, he and I were together for a good ten or so years.”

Scorpius’ eyes widened. “But I thought….”

“Yes, the rumor was that he was still in love with Lily Potter, which is why he tormented Harry. The truth was, they were friends, and he only fucked with Harry because of years of James teasing him. Alas, he was a horribly stubborn man, but we balanced each other out quite nicely.”

Photo Snape grimaced and straightened the overturned cauldron next to him. Professor Finch looked at the picture lovingly and closed the watch somewhat abruptly, his expression snapping back to stoic professionalism.

“Well then, thank you for your help, Mr. Malfoy. Maybe you should consider going slower around corners?”

The imposing figure of the Potions Master retreated down the corridor and Scorpius stood, mildly embarrassed and full of questions about the two Hogwarts Potion Masters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So coming up pretty soon I'm going to put Hermione in a new relationship (probably a gay one) and my original idea was hermione/luna (but my friend who edits this HATED that idea) so if anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to existing characters or any OCs that you guys come up with.  
> So really, please send help :D  
> cool.  
> I hope you liked this chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius plays gobstones and makes a new friend, meanwhile Albus gets mauled by Fluffy jr.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, sorry for the wait again! We're almost at the end and things are beginning to get ~spicy~, and by spicy I mean angsty and confusing. Please check out the poll in the end notes, you guys were super helpful brainstorming ideas for a new relationship for Hermione, but now I need help choosing one because all the ideas were pretty hecking good :))  
> Wellllll, thanks for suffering through, I hope you enjoy!

5

   “So, what is Hermione doing?” Albus plopped down next to Rose, rather more abruptly than he intended.

“What the hell do you mean? It’s none of your affair, anyhow.” Rose turned back to the cold plate of eggs she had been picking at, clearly bothered by Albus’ inquiry.

“Come on, Rose! She’s my godmother, and now she’s my transfiguration professor! I won’t go away until you spill it.” Rose crossed her arms defiantly and sighed. She had had contests of stubbornness with Albus before, and nobody outlasted him.

“WELL IF YOU’RE NOT GOING TO LEAVE THEN,” Rose hissed. “I don’t want to talk about it here…” Rose looked around them “.....too many people around. I’ll meet you in here later tonight.”

“When?”

“Midnight, howabouts. I always did have a flair for the dramatic.”

To accentuate her point, Rose stood up and walked out, but not before a clearly rehearsed flip of her robes.

“What a piece of work.”

Annoyed but pleased with his results, Albus went outside to see if he could catch Scorpius.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   “OI! Stop trying to levitate my stone! Katie you lousy cheat!” Scorpius laughed and shoved the Gryffindor girl, causing her to crash into a student walking by.

“Wotcher!”

“Sorry mate!” Katie called after the retreating Ravenclaw and shot Scorpius a look, who had turned a light shade of vermilion.

“Hah”

“Oh you knew he was coming didn’t you, you twat”

“Weeell……..perhaps.” Scorpius grinned, and Katie retaliated by unceremoniously shoving him into the lake.

He crawled out slowly, sopping wet and sporting some seaweed highlights. Seconds later, he was hit by a hot air charm cast by a Hufflepuff student who was approaching the two.

“Hey! Thanks!” Said Scorpius, who was picking seaweed out of his hair as a pretense to avoid conversation. However, Katie jumped up to greet the tall girl

“Hey! Scorpius! This is Ella! I invited her to play with us!” Scorpius paused his grooming sheepishly and shot the girl a smile.

“Heyyyyy, Scorpius. Cool to meet you.” Ella plopped down onto the grass and set down her bag (which was rather large and overflowing with books) beside her.

Scorpius looked at the overflowing volumes, eyes wide.

“Wait, don’t tell me, you like reading.”

Ella snickered. “Wow, Divination must be paying off, how could you possibly have guessed that?” Scorpius laughed, more at ease. “Whatcha reading?”

“I’ve been trying to teach myself some more obscure spells. I was just working on _expecto patronum_ , but mostly because I wanted to see what my patronus is.” To demonstrate, she waved her wand in the air, expelling a silvery mist from the tip which floated around the three and coalesced into the shape of a corgi.

“Hah, awesome!” Scorpius was content to watch mist corgi for a while, but Katie cleared her throat. “Alright you nerds, are we playing gobstones or what?” Scorpius rolled his eyes at Ella, who rolled up her sleeves. “Ok, but be prepared to get stoned.”

“Dude.”

“Oh you know what I meant.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

   Several hours later, Scorpius was reading on his bed when Albus came crashing into the dorm, covered in what looked to be a barrage of tiny cuts and bite marks.

“What, did you get attacked by a fleet of hungry cats?”

Albus shot him an award-worthy eyeroll and began rummaging through his nightstand for what Scorpius presumed to be bandaids.

“Not quite. I got a fun greeting from Finch’s dog, who is related to Fluffy, but small and with no concept of gravity.” Scorpius snorted picturing Albus getting slobbered all over by a three-headed dog, and Albus, who had turned a light shade of pink, continued his search with renewed vigor. Scorpius resumed talking to fill the awkward gap. “How was private lessons with Finch?”

“Eh, fine. He had me re-do the Swelling Solution that we brewed last class.” Scorpius shuddered at the memory. He had barely squeaked through that class without losing a finger.

The silence resumed, and Scorpius was fresh out of ideas to lessen the tension in the air. Thankfully, it was Albus to the rescue, as per usual. “So how was Gobstones?”

“Ooh, it was fun! I tied in second, and Katie won, but it was on a technicality. You better watch her if you two ever play gobstones, she refuses to play legally.” Albus looked bemused. “Oh, and I made a new friend! She tied second with me and she’s a Hufflepuff and she likes to read and-” Scorpius stopped himself as he noticed Albus’ crestfallen expression. “Hey..” Scorpius closed his book. “Are you sad that you couldn’t come today? I know you were looking forward to it, but it wasn’t that great! I pissed off a Ravenclaw…” Scorpius trailed off, lost in thought. Albus looked over at his adorable face which was cocked up and to the left, his smoky gray eyes looking somewhere far away. He let out a sigh which snapped Scorpius back to the present, and Albus, face burning, brought his attention back to the open drawer he had been rummaging through. ‘No, it’s alright, I’m sure we’ll all play gobstones again, I just realized that I’m out of bandages.”

“Oh!” Scorpius walked over to his nightstand and grabbed his box of quidditch-themed bandages (Snitches not Stitches), which he unceremoniously chucked over at a distracted Albus. Of course, Scorpius’ devoted athleticism made the box clonk the other boy squarely in the head instead of landing on the chair where Scorpius had been aiming.

“THANKS FOR THAT!” Albus reeled and Scorpius looked sheepish, but was still struggling to contain his laughter. 

“Sorry. But at least you have a bandage to put onto that lovely red bump you will be sporting tomorrow! And if anybody asks who you’re wearing, make sure to tell them it’s _Small Head Sticker Couture_ by _Scorpius Malfoy.”_ Scorpius pursed his lips and turned to the side, making a ridiculous face at Albus, who rolled his eyes and then laughed.

   “Goddamn, Malfoy. You should be glad you’re worth all the pain.”

   Scorpius blushed.

   “I’m glad I’m worth something.”

 _The world,_ Albus thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Poll! I'll list the options and then if you would do me a favor and comment you favorite one (or a completely new idea) that would be awesome!  
> Possible relationships for Hermione:  
> -Hermione/Cho Chang  
> -Hermione/Luna Lovegood  
> -Hermione/Original Character  
> -Hermione/nobody (She's just splitting up with Ron because that is a terrible pairing)  
> aaaaaalso, I noticed that I said that Hermione was teaching a course on Magical government when I introduced her and said that she would be teaching Transfiguration in later chapters, I'm fixing it, this is what happens when you don't write for mOnThS!  
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Albus and Rose have a talk

   Late that night, Albus lay awake in his bed. Scorpius, Henry, and Colin, the two other Slytherins they shared the room with, were all sound asleep, and Henry was snoring so loudly that Albus couldn’t possibly get back to sleep even if he drank a vial of Drought of the Living Death. 

But even if Henry was a quiet sleeper, Albus doubted he could get any rest anyways. His mind was still reeling with the events of the day. 

   His potion lesson had gone fantastically well, other than getting scratched up by Trixie, Finch’s ridiculous puppy. Also he was still mildly in shock from the picture he saw on the potion master’s desk; he would have recognized his namesake anywhere, but he found no explanations as to why his professor even had a picture of Severus Snape. But that aside, Albus was in a weird and uncomfortable mood. He was always so flustered in Potions class, and most of the time, and he sure as hell knew that extra attention from the professor wasn’t what cleared things up. He looked over at the sleeping lump that was Scorpius and sighed.  _ Shit.  _ The way the taller boy had talked about the people he met today- Albus couldn’t help but think that there may have been something more there…. But he couldn’t be sure. He could never be sure as he never had ANY IDEA what was going on behind those big gray eyes.  _ Fuck shit.  _ Albus rolled over and came face-to-face with his watch, which read 12:03.  _ Bloody hell, I was supposed to meet Rose three minutes ago!  _ He hastily cast  _ Muffliato  _ on himself and fumbled into his slippers and bathrobe.  _ Shitshitshit, she hates me enough already!  _ He ran out of the room and down the stairs, ignoring the incredibly dejected looking squid outside the common room and ran up the stairs as fast as he could to the great hall. 

Thankfully, Rose wasn’t there yet. Scorpius plopped down at the emptied Hufflepuff table on the far right and tried to catch his breath. Seconds later, Rose arrived in a swirl of robes. 

“You’re late.” She looked down her nose at the still-heaving boy.

“Hey, I got here before you!”

“No, I’ve been behind a suit of armor in the hall since 11:30 just to make an entrance, and you came puffing down the hall at 12:05.” Rose turned and gestured to the empty head table. “The prosecution rests, your Honor.”

Albus rolled his eyes.

“Yes, yes, ok, just spill the beans Granger-Weasley.”

Rose rolled her eyes and plopped down across from Albus. “If you insist”

“You bloody well know I do.”

“Goddamn you stubborn Potters.” Rose sighed and, bravado aside, began fiddling with the hem of her robes. “So basically, my mother hit her midlife crisis, and split up with my dad.”

“Wha-” Rose shot him a death glare and continued. “And she’s working here for a bit to give him some space at the Ministry. And to make things even more interesting, she’s DATING my MUGGLE STUDIES PROFESSOR!”

Albus sat in mild shock as he watched the wave of confusion, pain, and anger run across Rose’s face. She quickly composed herself with a cough and looked at Albus expectantly for a reaction, but he had none. His mind was racing, and he couldn’t even  remember who taught Muggle Studies.

“Bloody hell, isn’t the muggle studies professor-”

“A woman, yes.” Rose interrupted. “My mother…” She grimaced “Left my father for a woman.”

Albus was taken aback by Rose’s close-mindedness. “...Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Grow up Albus, you’ve caught me messing around with that Ravenclaw girl. Of course it’s fine! That’s not the point.” The Gryffindor girl huffed and turned away from her cousin.

   “....It’s just,” Rose didn’t look up as she spoke, and her voice was quavery. “...Our parents are supposed to be the rational ones! Especially  _ MY  _ mother, of all people! Hermione Granger, Miss Perfect! Perfect grades, Perfect career, Perfect marriage!” Rose spat out the words, her emotions funneling into unbridled anger. Albus shrunk backwards on the bench. “But it was all a lie! She held us, all of us, literally everybody she ever came into contact with- up to her ridiculous fake standards of perfection! And as soon as she had made us all ‘perfect’,” The word  _ perfect _ hit Albus like a smack on the face, “She got bored. We were ‘perfect’, and that left nothing for her to fix.” Rose’s anger had died down, and she looked so small and sad all alone on her bench that Albus walked over and hugged her. She jolted.

“DON’T.” 

Albus jerked back. Of course Rose didn’t need a hug, her soft interior hadn’t broken out. There wasn’t a soft interior. However, much to his surprise, Rose threw herself at him, crying quietly. Apparently there was a soft interior after all. 

Albus rubbed her back and tried not to make sounds of discomfort as Rose squeezed all of his organs out of configuration. 

“Listen, I’m sure that’s not why she left.”

Rose squeezed harder.

   “Hell, she didn’t leave! I mean, technically, yes, she’s divorcing Uncle Ron, but-” Albus was fumbling.  _ Damn my brain! I need you to form coherent sentences! Please! At least this once!  _ But brain working or not, he had to fix this. “She didn’t leave. She loves you and Hugo so much, even Uncle Ron, just not in the way she used to.” Rose wiped her nose on his sleeve. “If she had actually left, why did she come to your school to work? I ran into her and I have never seen her more flustered in her life! And Aunt Hermione does nOt get flustered. Just like you. This is the most emotional I have ever seen you since you fell off your broom and broke your arm when we were nine.” Rose let out a weird, choked-on-snot giggle at the memory. “Albus pushed her off of him so he could look her in the face. “Your mother is not one to be irrational or flighty. I know you think she got bored, and while I admit she can be incredibly overbearing, she was not trying to make you ‘perfect.’ She loves you just the way you are, and I know you love her too, so you have got to cut her some slack. Imagine not discovering a huge part of yourself until you are in your mid forties! She just needs some time to think and…... _ experiment.  _ Albus gagged, and Rose looked incredibly uncomfortable, which was a much more Rose-ish expression than crying. 

“Merlin. Thank you. I really needed that mental image. 

_ ThAnk you.  _

_ For thAt.” _

“Ahhh, burning sarcasm. She’s back, ladies!”

Rose rolled her eyes and linked her arm with Albus’ arm. “Come on you weirdo, I don’t know about you, but I need my sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wELL IT SURE HAS BEEN A HOT MINUTE SINCE I UPDATED THIS, HASN'T IT?????  
> Yikes. Sorry. School it terrible and I have to use all of my creative juices writing essays instead of stuff I actually wAnt to write but it's spring break so I actually have the time and energy to continue the slowest of the slow burn fanfictions ever created. I hope you liked the update! Sorry if it was short these things always look longer on google docs lol.


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